I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

Today I bought Old Grand Dad 114 and W. L. Weller 12 year Binny's single barrel. I usually buy Evan Williams Black. Are there any bourbons out there that are just plain bad and should be avoided? I'd rather have a list of what to avoid than what is good. I wanted to buy another bottle of Larceny today but it was sold out. I really do like that stuff.

Re: I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

Everybody has different tastes. Some people on here have had bottles so bad they have poured them down the drain. Personally I have never bought a bottle so bad that I couldn't use it as a mixer. I say give erverything a chance, luckily most of the bourbons that people have claimed were "bad" don't cost very much.

To start, as already mentioned, you picked some good quality value bourbons. As a matter of fact these are two of my favorites no matter the price. I was recently introduced to the OGD114 and wish I have given it a shot a long time ago. As for what not to buy that is a hard one. There is a thread on here that has been pretty active recently which talks about people worst bourbon. Just remember no two taste buds are alike. What one person calls trash other love.

Re: I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

You might consider reading through the comments under Straight Bourbon of the Month on SB or try consulting a blog like Sour Mash Manifesto or Sipology for reviews. EW Black is a good solid place to begin your exploration of bourbon and there are lots of interesting places to go from there. If you like WLW and Larceny, OWA is another highly regarded wheater you will probably enjoy.

If God made anything better than bourbon he must have kept it for Hisself.

Re: I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

I know that I already like OWA. I am thinking that I might just stick with Evan Williams Black for my least expensive bourbon. I have been doing that for a while. I don't always get out to Binny's so I was just wondering on some of the other inexpensive bourbons. Example would be Early Times, Old Crow Reserve (I think I read some where on here to avoid the regular Old Crow). I think now that Ten High is a blend that would also be one to stay away from. But honestly I don't know about any others.

I am also a fan of Wild Turkey 101. If I recall from some samples I received last year, just about anything Wild Turkey was mighty good.

Re: I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

Don't be afraid of bad Bourbon. If you don't know bad Bourbon, then how will you know what is good? When I started, my goal was to try all of the standard releases from every distillery, and that's what I did. If you never do that, and only rely on what others say, you'll always be guessing as to what you will or won't like.

Re: I still find myself not knowing what bourbon to buy.

What to avoid? Champion, Kessler, any blended whiskey products, and that's about all I can think of off the top of my head. Most others are serviceable. You'll get to the point one day where you walk into a store and think why would I pick up any of this stuff? I've tried it all, and either don't care to again, or have multiples at home!

"this hobby is supposed to be fun. When it stops being fun, check yourself, because you're doing it wrong." Charles Cowdery